Top customer reviews

As you can see from others' reviews (esp. on other smartstick models), this product apparently was built with a few plastic parts (instead of metal) that break down after just a bit of use. Then it starts making a horrible grinding noise.

I called Cuisinart, and their in-warranty replacement requires that I pay *THEIR* shipping of the replacement ($10), and also pay to ship the product back to them (probably another $10). Oddly, other people posting reviews here are not being charged.

I called back to ask why some people are having shipping waived, and others aren't. It sounds like they're using a combination of location (e.g. California, which has better customer protection laws) and date of purchase (e.g. if it's less than 6 months old, they're more likely to waive outbound shipping charge.)

IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING THIS PRODUCT: Be aware that the glowingly positive reviews appear to be from people who've just bought the product and haven't hit build quality issues yet.

January 4th 2010 update: The replacement product lasted only 6 months. Same defect. Throwing it out and buying a competitor's product. Never trusting the Cuisinart brand again.

WOW, this is an exceptional tool. I have owned a Braun, Rival, Sunbeam and an Oster all of which failed within a year or less, the Oster being by far the worse. I was so surprised that this blender was so powerful, even on ice mixed with liquid. The biggest surprise was that after you are done blending you just leave the blender in the cup and push a button to release the lower half of the unit making it totally mess free moving it to the sink for easy clean up! I didn't expect that feature and I would have chosen it just for that feature had I known. This unit is light and very powerful far better then any other brand I have tried. In this price range this is the only choice, I can't imagine any blender even in the over 100 dollar range working any better. Get it you will love it!

UPDATE:I've now owned this for several months and use it several times a day and I still give it TEN STARS!

I have 2 of these blenders in brushed chrome.My first one I took down to my house in Brazil.I have a second and newer one here in America.I originally bought it to mix my protein powder with water. (It clumps if I don't.)I'm vegetarian and I need my protein on a daily basis.The newer version is much better since you can unhook the blades from the body unit to clean it.It's sturdy and super powerful and loaded with possibilities in the kitchen.Turns out my husband became a fan too. He uses it for a myriad of things in his cooking.One hell of a blender!

Whipped cream, mayonnaise, smoothies, crushed ice, pureed fruit and veggies, plus easy cleanup. This is my third stick blender and so far is my favorite. I liked my original Braun unit as it filled an important niche in my food preparation activities. When it died I decided to replace it with the very expensive Bamix, thinking it would last forever and do everything the Braun did, plus better and faster. Sadly, it didn't perform as well as anticipated and after a few years, it quit working. I don't use a stick blender as much as some folks probably do because I have other appliances to fill various needs, but I do like to have one for certain things, so for my third go `round, I decided to try this one due to its positive comments and reasonable price. I'm surprised to find that it actually performs better than the Bamix did.

I decided to put it through its paces before reviewing and am very pleased. I prefer whipping cream in my personal blender, but this does perform that function. I found making mayonnaise was easier with this than in my food processor, especially since I usually want very small amounts. I was surprised that it made a smoothie better than my personal blender, pulverizing the ice thoroughly and quickly, as well as pureeing all the fruit to a smooth consistency.

The container that comes with the unit is a good size. It is marked up to two cups/16 oz/500ml, but will hold more than that so you can actually prepare two cups of ice cream mix, for example, without spilling. It makes a good size smoothie that can be enjoyed right out of the container.

Being able to detach the bottom section of the blender for washing is soooo much easier than cleaning my other units. That is a huge plus. Its footprint on the counter is only two inches standing up, another plus over the Bamix which rests in a stand.

Will it last forever? I don't suppose so at this price, but then neither did the Bamix at a high price. I'm very satisfied with what I got for the money with this purchase and recommend it.

I bought this blender about 4 months ago and now its completely broken. It never worked well, as the blade would frequently detach from the motor. I was making a smoothie for breakfast yesterday and the thing stopped working altogher.

This blender worked perfectly for about a year with almost no issues, until it recently broke while I was making mashed potatoes.

Here's what I didn't like:

1. When blending frozen berries into a smoothie in the cup provided, if you push down too hard on the fruit while blending it will actually bend the blades! You're better off with a traditional blender if you are making smoothies.

2. When you make mashed potatoes, they are somewhat sticky and they clog up the blade housing while you're blending, rendering the blender ineffective until you clean the mashed potatoes from around the blades. This is not easy because the blades are so sharp.

3. Since the gear that connects the motor to the blade is made of plastic, it will eventually strip and then the motor will no longer turn the blade (it will just spin by itself). This is especially prone to happen when mixing thick foods like mashed potatoes.